Allyson Gofton baby brioche buns
Tarbes, our closest city, does not rate in the tourist guides of France, something that needs to change. The adage “never judge a book by its cover” surely applies to Tarbes, especially when it comes to food. Tucked off the shopping boulevards lie many unexpected culinary discoveries, a treasure trove of talent and taste in this often unfairly media-neglected city.
On an unremarkable corner, behind glass windows showcasing towering displays of candy coloured macarons, is Patrick Berger MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), master patissier, traiteur and owner of Royalty, a chic Salon de The. Each day Patrick and his staff hand-craft exquisite pastries and desserts, and a comprehensive selection of artfully decorated dishes to be served in-house for lunch, or boxed for “emporter” — take-away — for a traiteur is a food boutique specialising in beautifully presented dishes to take home; food to be savoured not scoffed.
Patrick, like so many artisans here, learned his trade as a youngster, working at the pastry bench beside his dad, whose business Royalty once was. I’m a regular here, attempting to taste my way through the jewel-like patisseries, but I fear both my time will run out and my hips will give out! Behind front of house, Patrick is giving me a lesson on creating the perfect brioche.
Proudly, Patrick extols the virtues of each ingredient; for him, each one must be of the highest quality and each one’s provenance is paramount. It’s this passion for each individual ingredient that, for me, differentiates the French people’s love of food from ours. Flour, milled from wheat grown in the Pyrenees, and eggs (all size 55 grams for consistency) are sourced from a local farmer. Butter must be unsalted — called doux here — and is the only product sourced outside the region. Although Patrick would like to use hand churned butter from the Pyrenees, he says it’s difficult as the make-up of artisan-produced butter varies with the seasons and he needs consistency of structure; his butter comes from Normandy bearing an AOP.
With these ingredients at hand, we begin to make a firm dough from flour, salt, yeast sponged in milk, and eggs — lots of them. This heavy, solid dough is kneaded well to work the gluten, then, gradually the butter, at room temperature, is added slice by thin slice until a very soft, dough forms. It takes ages, more time than I would have thought. To my surprise, the dough is not left to rise but refrigerated overnight so it can become firm, like a chilled sweet pastry dough. Brioche, Patrick tells me, cannot be rushed.
Early next morning, the cooks take the firm, cold dough, cut, weigh and shape it into classic top-knot buns or roll and fill with spice and sugar or glacé fruit. Several hours will pass before the brioche has risen sufficiently to be baked.
Patrick washes the brioche liberally with egg glaze before cooking the fluffy mounds at a high temperature for a short time. Fresh from the oven, the brioche is simply wonderful. Like Otago cheddar cheese, good things really do take time! 1 Sprinkle the yeast over the milk, stir to mix and set aside for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture is frothy. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together. Place the flour, salt, eggs and sugar, milk and yeast into the bread machine and set the machine to the dough setting. Allow the machine to bring the ingredients to a heavy dough; about 8-10 minutes. 2 Lift the lid of the bread machine and gradually add the butter thin slice by thin slice. Most bread machines allow around 20 minutes to knead a dough, so there is plenty of time to add the butter. Lastly add the fruit. Once the machine stops kneading, transfer the dough to a well-greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. I like to leave it overnight. 3 When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200C fan bake or 220C without fan. 4 Cut the cold dough into small portions. To make patty cake- size buns as in the photo, cut into 40 gram portions. For bigger buns double the weight. On a lightly floured bench, shape the portions into even mounds. Place in greased patty pans, or on a greased tray, leaving a little room between each bun to allow space for the buns to rise. 5 Cover with a lightweight clean cloth and set aside in a warm place for one hour, maybe longer, until double in size. Brush with egg glaze and sprinkle with a little demerara sugar. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve warm.